New Broadway App Makes The Creative Process A Snap

Choreographer Rusty Mowery using ProductionPro on the set of "Kinky Boots."

ProductionPro Technologies Inc.

The Broadway stage has a new platform that promises to transform the creative process.

Launched last year, ProductionPro provides a platform for theater professionals to collaborate throughout the creative process. It coordinates information and ideas about individual scenes in real-time, and several popular shows, such as Hamilton and Groundhog Day, have already started using it.

The idea for the application came to the creator, Alexander Libby, when he was working for veteran director Stephen Daldry as an associate producer in 2008. The two men were seated at a kitchen table, discussing a scene from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, when Daldry looked up from the script. “I need a way to see it,” he said.

There is a ton of information involved in developing each theatrical production, Libby realized, and it is often difficult for different members of the creative team to visualize the full picture. Content about the same exact scene can be scattered across stacks of paper, numerous emails, shared Google Docs, Microsoft Word documents, and various Evernote and Dropbox accounts. Communication is too complicated.

Libby attempted to assemble all of the information for Daldry in one place, using a paper chart which identified the characters, sets, and costumes included in each scene of the film. But, the visual scroll spanned 150-feet, and its information could not be accessed from other locations.

Moreover, Libby recognized that circulating important information often takes up too much time. “It is unbelievable how much time we spend to make sure that everyone on the creative team has the same information in front of them,” observed Libby, a former stage manager on Broadway.

When a writer decides to switch the setting of a scene from a fitness room to a catering hall, for instance, the director often needs to call a meeting for all the members of the creative team. The set designers and costume designers need to stop their tasks, leave their studios, and then relay the news to all of their assistants to ensure that everyone in the show is on the same page.

“It is too time-consuming,” commented entertainment executive Bob Boyett, who produced Full House and over 50 Broadway shows. “Productions are pressed into a very tight time period, and you try to have as few meetings as possible that take up a lot of hours in the day,” he explained.

When producer Scott Rudin wondered whether or not someone had created a mobile application to coordinate and consolidate all of the data, Libby had an idea.

He called up leading engineers in Silicon Valley to learn more about technological capabilities, and started to search for a squad of software developers. Boris Debic at Google offered to help, and recommended some independent programmers that the firm had hired for special projects.

Huddled into a space the size of a bedroom, the coders were all eager to develop a pioneering solution for the entertainment business. It was more exciting than their usual tasks of reading through transaction records and checking lines of code.

“They were all having so much fun,” recalled Boyett, who became an investor in the business.

The final software, which Libby named ProductionPro, features a sophisticated algorithm that identifies all of the acts, scenes, and characters used in a script. It then organizes the information across a visual scroll, similar to the paper chart that Libby had created for Daldry, allowing members of the creative team to see and share specific content about each scene.

Serving as a digital production notebook, Libby added that it also “automatically pulls together all choreography breakdowns, prop presets, costume tracks, and designs into one simple place that empowers creative decision-making.” It solves the information problem in the sector, making the creative process easier and more efficient.

The creative teams behind Hamilton and other top musicals were fast to embrace the software, using it to mount mirror-image productions around the world, and integrate new performers into their running shows. Rusty Mowery, the associate choreographer of Kinky Boots, explained that, “[i]f I’m setting a company and have a question about a set piece or traffic (where an actor moves), I can have the answer in one tap instead of having to flip through page after page.” “It saves me time, energy, and it also just speeds up the rehearsal process,” he said.

Christopher Gattelli, the Tony Award-winning choreographer of Newsies, echoed his praise. While juggling multiple projects at the same time, such as War Paint and the upcoming SpongeBob Squarepants musical, he emphasized that “[t]his lets me pull up the music and video I need for any moment in the show with just a tap or keyword.”

In addition to saving time, the software might also save money. Between renting a studio and compensating all of the performers and musicians, producers can spend more than $100,000 each week during the rehearsal period. Being able to shave off a few days or a week would be music to their ears.

Enterprise packages start at $500 each month, and Libby expects the business to be profitable in 12 to 18 months.

Recent cash infusions from Disney should help. The entertainment conglomerate decided in July to take a stake in the start-up, and include it in its accelerator program. ProductionPro can now seek guidance from top Disney executives, as it strives to earn a spot in its Carousel of Progress.